Scientists have discovered Marburg virus in fruit bats in Sierra Leone. This is the first time the deadly virus has been found in West Africa. Five Egyptian rousette fruit bats tested positive for active Marburg virus infection. Scientists caught the bats separately in three health districts: Moyamba, Koinadugu and Kono.

Building on work begun by primatologist Dian Fossey of Gorillas in the Mist fame, Gorilla Doctors, a program led by the University of California, Davis, has been providing personalized veterinary care to these animals in the wild since the late 2000s.

Key scientific partners and funders from around the globe gathered in London on Nov. 1 to officially launch the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP), a global effort to sequence the genetic code of all the planet’s eukaryotes — some 1.5 million known species, including all plants, animals, protozoa and fungi.

During the 2018 International Research Conference at UC Davis, hosted by Global Affairs, over 200 experts from 22 countries came together to develop strategies for international research collaboration. Presentations covered pioneering research breakthroughs as well as ongoing research developments that have reached levels of urgency. Take the keynote of Mills College President Elizabeth L. Hillman, whose address honed in on sexual harassment in the workplace—and highlighted that such sexual harassment should be viewed every bit as serious as research misconduct.

Carrie Waterman, a nutrition researcher in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is one of the most recent UC Davis faculty members to receive a Global Affairs Seed Grant for her proposal “From California to East Africa: Building Collaborations for Innovative Agricultural and Health Development."

This September 17 and 18, leaders in research, international education, government and industry converged at UC Davis with a common purpose: developing innovative strategies for international research within today’s rapidly changing political and research environments. The 2018 International Research Conference at UC Davis, hosted by Global Affairs, drew over 200 experts and just as many different perspectives from every corner of the world.

A team of researchers led by Alan Bennett from UC Davis has shown that the secret of the corn’s success lies in its aerial roots—necklaces of finger-sized, rhubarb-red tubes that encircle the stem. These roots drip with a thick, clear, glistening mucus that’s loaded with bacteria. Thanks to these microbes, the corn can fertilize itself by pulling nitrogen directly from the surrounding air.

Alan Bennett, distinguished professor of plant sciences at UC Davis and executive director of UC Davis Chile, is part of a multidisciplinary team of researchers from UC Davis, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Mars, Incorporated that has made a remarkable discovery: an indigenous variety of Mexican corn that can also fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, instead of requiring synthetic fertilizers.

As you register for the 2018 International Research Conference at UC Davis (Sept. 17-18), UC Davis Global Affairs invites you to also register for one of our pre-conference tours on Sept. 16 and enjoy some of the world’s best wine and most beautiful scenery before the conference begins.

Global Affairs says Mills College President Elizabeth L. Hillman will address the topic of sexual harassment of women in academia. The organizers also announced discount registration for UC Davis faculty, staff, scholars and students — for one or both days of the conference.